It’s exciting and fun to learn to eat differently, to try new foods and new products, and to savor the freshness and goodness of plant-based whole food, foods that are vital and alive. It’s fun to visit farmers’ markets, find new restaurants, buy new recipe books and try new recipes, go to cooking classes, challenge ourselves to replace a packaged processed food with a fresh whole natural food, and do some or all of these things with friends and family members.

Even if you never become 100-percent vegan, you can do a lot for your health by including more plant-based food in your diet. The more you substitute plant-based foods for animal products the healthier you’ll be. One of my patients is a vegan six days a week. Others eat vegan unless they go to a restaurant, and then they might eat vegetarian. Some patients limit animal products and substitute plant-based food whenever they can. Others eat plant-based diets but occasionally enjoy fish. Some, like me, eat a totally plant-based diet all the time.